The Federal Police of Brazil carried out the Operation Trapaceiros last Thursday, a crackdown aimed at dismantling a criminal network that facilitates the irregular entry of Cubans from Guyana into Brazilian territory, according to the portal G1 de Globo.
Agents executed two search and arrest warrants issued by the 4th Federal Court of Boa Vista, the capital of the state of Roraima, in the northern part of the country.
The route that crosses Guyana
The investigated scheme operates in the border corridor between Lethem in Guyana and the municipality of Bonfim in Roraima.
The route departs from Havana by plane to Georgetown, the capital of Guyana and the only country in the region that does not require a visa for Cuban citizens. It continues overland to Lethem and crosses the Tacutu River clandestinely into Bonfim.
From there, migrants travel by road to Boa Vista and, in many cases, continue on to Curitiba, São Paulo, or Uruguay.
Federal Highway Police agent Isaías Magalhães described the scope of the operation:
"Many of these individuals do not have Boa Vista as their final destination. The capital serves only as a transit point. This criminal network charges for the entire package, from departure from Cuba to the final destination within Brazil."
The traffickers -known as "coyotes"- charge between 300 and 2,800 dollars per segment.
According to BBC News Brasil, cited by O Globo, “many Cubans are led to believe that they must undertake this journey through illegal traffickers, paying amounts that exceed 10,000 dollars from the moment they leave Cuba.”
An investigation that began in 2022
The investigation that led to Operation Trapaceiros began in July 2022, when two men were arrested while transporting foreigners who had entered the country illegally.
The forensic examination of the seized cell phones revealed signs of a broader network.
The Federal Police is also investigating the forgery of public documents, organized crime, and actions aimed at gaining economic advantage.
Only in 2026 so far, more than 200 people have been rescued in operations related to this network in the border area.
A chain of operations in 2026
This operation is the latest in a series of intensified police actions throughout the year.
In February, Operation Malecón dismantled in Boa Vista a network that had trafficked at least 200 Cubans in three months, led by the Venezuelan José Alberto Lira Lezama.
In June, Operation Conexão Norte resulted in the rescue of 189 Cuban migrants in one week.
On the 8th and 9th of that month, the largest recorded humanitarian rescue in Roraima took place in a single day: 108 Cubans and five "coyotes" were arrested.
Among those rescued in previous operations were 39 Cubans -including ten children, one pregnant woman, and several elderly individuals- who had gone three days without food, cramped in three rented vehicles.
Between 2024 and June 2026, the Federal Highway Police rescued 297 migrants in Roraima, detained 31 suspected traffickers, and confiscated 31 vehicles; 91% of those rescued were Cuban.
An exodus that does not stop
Behind these figures lies the crisis that drives thousands of Cubans to risk their lives: chronic blackouts, shortages of food and medicine, rampant inflation, and political repression.
This is compounded by the near-total closure of the route to the United States since January 2025, when the Trump administration ended the humanitarian parole program and reduced irregular encounters of Cubans at the U.S. border by 99%.
In light of that closure, Brazil became the primary alternative destination.
In 2025, Cubans submitted 41,919 asylum requests, representing 55.4% of the national total, and for the first time in a decade, surpassed Venezuelans, marking an increase of 88.1% compared to 2024.
In the first quarter of 2026, 13,414 Cubans requested asylum in Brazil - accounting for 58% of all applications during that period - and none received formal refugee status during that time.
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